|
I found the Level 3 fusion fights to vary in difficulty, personally; The Fire one just ruined my day, while the Water one was far more doable. Then I just said "gently caress it" and came at the Fire boss with a Third Key and Rage  .
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2020 08:30
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 23, 2024 12:10 |
|
|
Pizuz posted:Square did that for all three mainline PSX Final Fantasy games. Yea, I remember FF9 wrapping up on a single giant dungeon as well though it WAS mostly a glorified boss rush at that point, using Kuja's Dragon, the Four Elemental Archfiends from FF1, Deathguise, Trance Kuja and Necron with Hades thrown in there if you found him roughly one after another... Oh, and that tedious as gently caress sidequest you could complete in Lindblum for another ribbon if you weren't above going back through the dungeon a dozen or so times. I remember that one took roughly 9 years to find out the existence of since it was so easy to miss.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2020 08:44
|
|
|
Pizuz posted:Square did that for all three mainline PSX Final Fantasy games. I mentioned 8 because 8's final disc is extremely content light. 7 has a lot of side quests still open at the endgame (and a decent chunk of plot at the start of disc 3 iirc.) 9 locks off some of the world but also has some side content. FF8? You've got a secret location for one more summon and optionally the ability to play cards on your airship. Everything else is locked out except the last dungeon.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2020 12:35
|
|
|
Mokinokaro posted:I mentioned 8 because 8's final disc is extremely content light. 7 has a lot of side quests still open at the endgame (and a decent chunk of plot at the start of disc 3 iirc.) 9 locks off some of the world but also has some side content. Sorry, misunderstanding on my side. It's been ages since I played FF8, so I probably don't remember it that well. Was it due to that time compression gimmick that everything was inacessible? In FF9 most dungeons were off-limits because of spontaneous landslides, I know, but most towns were accessible, yes. Same with FF7, I guess.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2020 12:49
|
|
|
Yeah it was. There was basically a "force field" around every location but the one secret dungeon and the castle.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2020 13:14
|
|
|
More than just the one dungeon (all dungeons related to optional GFs were still open), but yes. FF8 and FF9 were opposite in that regard - 8 locked you out of towns but generally kept dungeons open, 9 locked you out of dungeons but generally kept towns open. In both cases, it was a hand-wavy plot explanation for "we need more space on the disc to store the giant prerendered ending CG".
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2020 15:15
|
|
|
This is only tangentially related but has Id done a stream or anything of the RE2 remake? I only wonder since RE3 remake is around corner so i was rereading the old lps.
|
|
#
?
Feb 28, 2020 02:15
|
|
|
Looking at the new light fusion makes me want to see Asura's Wrath again. Episode LXVIII The Dark Id posted:Why am I setting Gepetto's debts now? Episode LXIX The Dark Id posted:we need to advance the Treasure Hunting side quest side we discovered that Seere Crest
|
|
#
?
Feb 28, 2020 04:15
|
|
|
The Dark Id posted:back before Nicolai took his heal turn.
|
|
#
?
Feb 28, 2020 12:36
|
|
|
Reading this has been a delight. I got FTNW for my birthday along with KH2 when they both came out and ended up finding the other two used later on once I was hooked. I've always sucked at finishing games so I look forward to seeing the back half of Covenant finally. Yeah, I could play it myself now on an emulator, but gently caress does the judgement ring suck in emulation.
|
|
#
?
Feb 28, 2020 22:57
|
|
|
After a point in the game, I honestly just switched everyone to that all or nothing ring choice. I'd rather use muscle memory to hit all 5 of Yuri's hits as crititcals than have to remember where five of them are on the screen. Also doing that lets me cheat with the Third Keys, hit one and you hit them all.
|
|
#
?
Feb 29, 2020 15:55
|
|
|
Episode LXX: Grey Worm.jpg) Time to finally take on Idar Flamme. Despite the claim that the flying fortress would destroy all of Petrograd by the next morning... Nah. It's just been sort of lazily hovering over the city still while Rasputin sits around thinking he's cool all day. You would think there would be some sort of cinematic of the Bacon Jet landing on the structure but...  NEW Music: Pulsation Fortress ~ Pulsating Stronghold (Boy, this sure is a droning 20-second loop that plays the entire goddamn dungeon.) .jpg) ...Nope. No grand front gate or really anything. Everyone just shuffles in the front door with zero fanfare. Sure, why not? .jpg)  This is Rasputin's temple...?.jpg)  You read some creepy books. Hehe. It's got a pretty evil air about it, that's for sure! What's with you? You seem happy. <turns to Karin> Yeah, well... I'm really gonna enjoy ripping this building apart! I couldn't see the previous flying castle I was in falling apart since I was in space at the time. So this should be fun. ...Could we not have a floating fortress fall apart over my city? <turns to Anastasia> Don't worry, Anastasia. I'll take care of Rasputin, and when I'm done, there won't be any trace of this temple. <nods> Okay!.jpg) Remember how in the previous game Neameto Float was a multi-level techno-organic deal with a side of weird gothic castle aesthetic? Oh, and it had pretty decent music too? Yeah, Idar Flamme is not that... .jpg) Do you like mazes of winding, gray corridors and the occasional junction leading to more winding identical-looking corridors? Well, you are in luck, my friend! Idar Flamme has that and more in spades! But ahead we hit one of the few gimmicks of the dungeon's early segment. .jpg) .jpg) These big gross alien eggs. Approaching one results in... .jpg) Music: Vicious 1915 ~ Battle in Europe .jpg) .jpg) A battle against these alien parasite worms. These creatures are known as Gigafilaria and are a Fire class enemy with 135 HP. They come in groups of four to six worms. They enjoy time fuckery magic such as attacks that may cause Slow and casting Arc Gale at the first possible chance they get. Other than that, there isn't much to them other than they only appear from those eggs. .jpg) Their one unique trait is that they drop THREE Soul Energy a pop as opposed to the usual 1 Soul Energy per enemy (excluding boss fights, obviously.) Music: Pulsation Fortress ~ Pulsating Stronghold .jpg)  Jeez! That was pretty creepy! I wonder if there are any more of them? This temple's alive. I'm sure of it... The last floating temple I was in had a giant heart in it, so that checks out..jpg) .jpg) .jpg) Idar Flamme is just chock-full of splitting paths and they're not some short branches with a treasure chest at the far end. They are significant distances and lead to other split paths with no clear direction as to where the hell we're meant to be heading. Spoilers: Generally we want to go north to reach the next section of the dungeon.  This place is goddamn HUGE and there are many paths with treasure scattered all over the place. For reference to scale, see that big curvy path to the center of the bottom-left quadrant of the map? It takes a solid minute to walk down just that path. That's just walking on the field, mind you. It actually took a good six minutes to make it down that path because giant alien eggs full of worms aren't the only problem we'll be facing here on our way to Rasputin. .jpg) Music: Vicious 1915 ~ Battle in Europe .jpg) There are also worms not encased in creepy egg sacks! These are Megafilaria the Earth elemental little brothers of the Gigafilaria. These parasites only have 98 HP. They are the same exact deal just weaker and only one Soul Energy drop per kill. They tend to come in groups of 3-6 and are almost always bunched up making them ripe for a magic AOE attack right at the battle's onset. Fun fact: Filaria are parasitic roundworms. They're usually a wee bit tinier, as I understand it. But I'm no scientist. .jpg) Moving on to more interesting creatures than a bunch of big ol' worms, we have Hati which is... just a Xenomorph from Alien but with some extra spikes taped onto it. It seems appropriate given the interior of this temple looks like they copied and pasted a tileset from a PS2 era Alien vs. Predator game. Hati are Water elemental enemies with 145 HP. Primarily, they stick to physical attacks but they do have one wholly unique spell that... really doesn't seem appropriate for an alien beast creature to possess but... .jpg) Hati can cast Direct Press which simply drops a comically oversized cartoon weight on someone. This attack sucks rear end because it HALVES its target's current HP. Which is a little rough to randomly get hit with in a common battle during a massive labyrinthine maze with save points only at the ends of the joint. .jpg) Though of note, Anastasia can use her Snapshot ability to steal Direct Press and use it for herself in the future with her Album ability. Except... massive amounts of enemies are immune to HP percentage-based attacks. So its utility is limited. Beyond that, the name Hati is derived from Hati Hróđvitnisson a wolf from Norse Mythology that chased the moon around like a dick. Wikipedia on Hati posted:
Yeah, OK. But it is still just a xenomorph but... perhaps it's a xenomorph that burst out of a wolf? The world may never know. .jpg) Joining Hati and the worm gang is this body horror nightmare that is a screaming skinless woman seemingly bursting out of the chest of a demonic snake. As you do. These creatures are known as Echidna. They are Dark elemental enemies with a 144 HP and unlike Sonic they don't chuckle. They primarily like to drain our MP resources by inflicting Mental Break (Poison but for MP) but are otherwise nothing too special despite the body horror aspect. Echidna is not named after the spiky, egg-laying anteaters but the half-snake/half-man creature of Greek mythology. Wikipedia on Echidna posted:
Well... there is a lady and a snake and they are merged into one entity, so... I don't think they intended it to be some biohazard monstrosity but I get where they got the name. .jpg) .jpg) The final common enemy (though far less common than the other three, I only fought maybe five of these total) is the Zamuza which looks like one of those Engineer dudes from Prometheus if you replaced its arms with four insectoid razor limbs and its normal legs with some quadruped demon legs. Also, have it hunch over and look as though it is furiously humping the air at all times. Zamuza is a Light elemental enemy with 156 HP to its name. It attacks primarily by... well, it has four arms that are blades. It mostly just stabs things repeatedly. Zamuza is a mistranslation of Samsa, the surname of the protagonist of Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis. Given we had a giant roach named Gregor earlier, that checks out with theming. I feel like the family of that story would be a tad bit more freaked out if they discovered old Gregor looking like Mr. X hosed one of those bugs from Starship Troopers. .jpg) One final note is that Joachim tagged in for Anastasia for this run of the game and managed to trigger his Grand Papillon Joachythm. Grand Papillon just boosts all of Joachim's stats across the board. And of course, he wears his iconic Grand Papillon mask. Like his two other forms, Joachim temporarily gains a new Profile write-up. .jpg) Joachim, is there something you're not telling us, buddy? .jpg)  "In next week's episode: Grand Papillon goes shopping!"Music: Pulsation Fortress ~ Pulsating Stronghold .jpg) And that's about it for the random encounters in this dungeon. And BOY did I have to do a lot of random encounters. Most of this dungeon is optional. We could just make a beeline north and skip the assorted treasure. But this is a rare one-time-only location (the only other one we've had was the Mirror Castle) so any treasure not collected will be lost forever. Nothing in this dungeon is anything that is permanently missable key items. There are no Stud Cards or Aromatherapy Oil or anything like that. The only character quest-related item is directly dropped by the final boss of the dungeon. But there is some decent loot at the cost of a long term investment dungeon crawling to get all. Start to finish this dungeon lasted a solid two hours and fifteen minutes if the footage I recorded is to be trusted. .jpg) There is also the matter of the Gigafilaria eggs. Counting the mandatory one at the entrance, there are twelve of these suckers blocking assorted paths down the corridors of Idar Flamme. They all produce the exact same Gigafilaria fight from the entrance and they all drop equal amounts of three Soul Energy per Gigafilaria, so tracking all these down can be quite the boon if we want to power up our Fusions. Just one of these fights is equivalent to the Soul Energy we would get from roughly two-three of the random battle encounters found elsewhere and takes very little time to blow through. .jpg) While there is a bounty of treasure to found most of it is just repeats of things we've already seen. With a couple exceptions. Namely: .jpg) Lucia can finally have a fan upgrade since we're not paying for it. This grants her +74 Physical and +85 Special Attack power. I actually found a use for Lucia in this dungeon. Given the lack of save points to use a Tent while taking deep dive expeditions for treasure, sticking a Cure spell on Lucia while she sits on the bench and putting her to good use topping off useful characters' HP proved effective for this specific stretch of the game. .jpg) We also picked up a Cosmic Bracelet that protects against a variety of status ailments. That is fairly decent as well. We could have used this for that Gundam Wolf Bout. And that is... pretty much it for interesting loot despite the massiveness of this area. .jpg) Anyway, when we make it to the far northern end of the region we discover... of course, somehow the Magimel Brothers and their truck have managed to get into the floating castle. .jpg) Huh?! What are you doing here?! How did you get in? We're hundreds of feet up in the air. I had to use a plane to get in here. Oh, come on! Why act so surprised? You people were here. Surely you knew we would show up eventually! That is not an explanation how you got a truck onto a floating temple. You are so focused on trivial details! We had to come and give out support! This is do-or-die, right?! Aren't you even a little pleased to see us?!  Hmm, well, I guess a little...  So you'll buy something, then?! Use up all your cash! Go on! We might never meet again! Exactly! You might as well use all your Stud Cards too. This might be our last meeting, after all! ...Thanks for the vote of confidence, guys. Real choice customer service.   <look at one another> .......jpg) Well, what about you?! You two... I'm taking back being a little glad to see you..jpg) I'm sure you all are more than capable of defeating the powerful sorcerer threatening to destroy all of Europe. You must do this kind of thing all the time! More than I would like... You just shout when you want to go back. We'll give you a ride back to the entrance, okay? Right, Pierre? Y-yes, of course! Just say the word! Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha! I am not getting in a strange van with you all....jpg) Pierre confirms we are done with dressmaking for the foreseeable future. Not going to miss that too strongly. .jpg) Meanwhile, Gerard offers his usual shopping services plus he will also drive us back to the dungeon entrance if we want to leave for whatever reason. Unfortunately, it's a one-way journey. We have to walk clear across the area again if we want to return to this point. I think we're good! .jpg) Gerard's shop doesn't offer any new equipment but it does now carry the third level consumables Thera Root, Mana Root, and Pure Root if we'd like to stock up on some beefier restorative items. That is still within the realm of overkill at this juncture, but it's nice to have the option available.  But I think we're good to go. Tune in next time as we tackle the second half of Idar Flamme. Yes, that monstrous maze of repeating assets was not quite enough dungeon for Rasputin's doom fortress.    Video: Episode 70 Highlight Reel (Click here for body horror and worms.)   Giga/Megafilaria Concept Art - Yep... that's a demon worm alright.  Echidna Concept Art - Someone less threatening with that mischievous smirk.  Hati Concept Art - Where does it even get those novelty weights it drops on people?
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2020 23:52
|
|
|
There is no better expression of Shadow Hearts 2 than a hideous xenomorph looking monster in a biomechanical hell fortress who drops comedy giant weights on you.
|
|
#
?
Mar 2, 2020 00:03
|
|
|
and then you steal it's soul with a camera to learn its secret techniques.
|
|
#
?
Mar 2, 2020 00:05
|
|
|
just looked back at the OP and saw that today marks the year anniversary of the thread
|
|
#
?
Mar 2, 2020 00:11
|
|
|
Idar Flamme is a terrible dungeon. There's just nothing else to say about it.
|
|
#
?
Mar 2, 2020 01:18
|
|
|
Filaria can be a real threat if you aren't quick on nuking them, because they'll Haste themselves out way ahead of your party and peck them to death. Guess how I know this from the first time I entered Idar Flamme? 
|
|
#
?
Mar 2, 2020 01:37
|
|
|
Let's not pretend we don't know exactly how the brothers get around.
|
|
#
?
Mar 2, 2020 17:50
|
|
|
You know full well they travel by Rickshaw in the city and palanquin through the country, supported by many burly men
|
|
#
?
Mar 2, 2020 20:48
|
|
|
DanielCross posted:Let's not pretend we don't know exactly how the brothers get around. Yeah, exactly. They ramp it everywhere.
|
|
#
?
Mar 2, 2020 20:52
|
|
|
The Dark Id posted:Echidna Concept Art - Someone less threatening with that mischievous smirk.
|
|
#
?
Mar 2, 2020 20:58
|
|
|
DanielCross posted:Let's not pretend we don't know exactly how the brothers get around. So it’s been demon hunter accessory merchant tradition for well over a century. Night10194 posted:There is no better expression of Shadow Hearts 2 than a hideous xenomorph looking monster in a biomechanical hell fortress who drops comedy giant weights on you. I’d have also accepted “being horribly cursed by a train of wooden toy ducks”.
|
|
#
?
Mar 2, 2020 21:05
|
|
|
Episode LXXI: Bite Me Music: Pulsation Fortress ~ Pulsating Stronghold .jpg) Welcome to the second half of Idar Flamme. The hell is an Idar Flamme anyway? Other than way too long and extremely grey.  The somewhat better-lit area is much smaller than its predecessor but it does require more mandatory running around in circles. This part has a gimmick to it of sorts. And what is that gimmick, you ask? .jpg) Why it's ye olde tried and true locked gates with corresponding switches that need to be thrown! A classic! Only this time they're color based! I suppose it's nice to see any color in this slog beyond shades of blueish grey. .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) If we follow an electrical current coming away from the sealed door we'll find a fan that can be deactivated which in turn opens the corresponding gate. I'm not sure why it would work like that. Was the fan generating electricity from wind? But, there's a switch to turn it off and that releases the locking mechanism? Is it a safety feature, perhaps? I have questions to the ancient aliens or whoever shoved this thing under St. Petersburg. .jpg) .jpg) Ultimately, we need to deactivate two yellow switch/fans on opposite ends of the area in order to deactivate a yellow gate to the north. There's assorted loot down other paths but none of it is worth mentioning. The random battle mobs also remain the same as earlier. So let's move right along to the heart of Idar Flamme. .jpg) Quite literally... .jpg) I told you the last flying fortress I was in had a great big giant heart. What... did you have to do to that one? What? The giant heart? We just walked past it. It was freaky! I wasn't going to touch that thing. So do we just walk past it...? I guess...? Let's just hope we don't hit a teleporter maze up ahead. I do NOT want to do that crap again..jpg) .jpg) Unfortunately, before we can go punch Rasputin the party needs to deal with yet more frikkin' worms. Asmodeus-Rasputin just can NOT get enough worms. He loves them! .jpg) Music: Glint of Light ~ Mid Boss in Europe .jpg) .jpg) Now, this is a filler mid-boss if I've ever seen one. We are now tasked with fight two Mother Filaria. They seem to be cross that we systematically smashed all their egg pods for the delicious Soul Energy trapped within their offspring. Mother Filaria is a Light class enemy and each has a lacking 900 health pool. .jpg) .jpg) The only thing going for this forgettable enemy is their physical attack has the potential to cause Paralysis. Other than that they can cast Bright Crime. But it's nothing that cannot be handled. It is two against four. And it will be within a single round, four against one. These things are pushovers. .jpg) They can also cast a Cure spell on each other or themselves except... their AI is remarkably stupid and they both saw it fit to cast Cure on the Mother Filaria that wasn't hurt in a turn wasting comedy of errors. That's not a good use of your limited time, bud. And it is very limited. .jpg) Strategy wise, there is very little to be said. We are going to cast Arc-Rage and then just Combo one until it is dead and then focus on the other. .jpg) .jpg) A three-person Combo can handily defeat either one of the mama worms and a four-person combo is just overkill. Especially since Joachim helpfully decided to transform into his Golden Bat form for this fight and is dealing devastating damage as a result. Everyone knows bats beat worms every time. That's just science. Music: Result ~ Victory .jpg)  I think I like this shape the best!.jpg) Even if it was filler at least they had a decent Soul Energy payout. There is one annoying and somewhat baffling catch, though... Music: Pulsation Fortress ~ Pulsating Stronghold .jpg) You would think removing overgrown demonic parasitic worms would improve the health of the heart. Not degrade it. But even more degrading, hey... You know how there were two Mother Filaria in that previous cutscene and then we immediately fought two of them? Makes sense, right? About that... notice there is still a cutscene worm chilling out here? And the heart is only "weakened" and not stopped. .jpg) Yeah, so this is happening... .jpg) Music: Glint of Light ~ Mid Boss in Europe .jpg) Nothing improves a filler boss fight like making the player do an identical filler boss fight literally seconds after the first one. Why didn't you just put four Mama Worms in one fight? It would have at least been semi-competitive as a boss instead of an utterly one-sided affair. .jpg) .jpg) Absolutely nothing new here. There are two of them of the same element and the same HP level. Go figure. Music: Result ~ Victory .jpg) .jpg) Even the payout is exactly the same except most everyone managed to gain a Level Up from this fight's experience. Get it together, Gepetto. Music: Pulsation Fortress ~ Pulsating Stronghold .jpg) And with that our worm problem is solved and we killed the heart of Idar Flamme which results in... .jpg) Let's go, then! <nods> Okay!.jpg) .jpg) We get to progress to the next room and leave the Heart of Filler behind us. That was an advanced level of pointless. .jpg) This is the point no return for Idar Flamme. Last opportunity to take in the sights of endless grey hallways and fighting worms. I am personally not going to miss this place. There is no strong preparation to be done here other than making sure we have Arc-Shield, Arc-Barrier, Arc-Gale and Arc-Rage equipped. Preferably on different characters. I personally had to feed Joachim some Strongoids to get him out of his Golden Bat form and into Invisible. While the bat was quite useful for the worm mid-boss, it will get Joachim nearly instantly smoked in the proper dungeon boss fight ahead. With that settled, let's get on with punching Grigori Rasputin! Music: Rasputin ~ Mysterious Monk .jpg) Yep. Called it. He's just been in here sitting around thinking he's cool all day to an audience of a bunch of idiot worms. The Asmodeus possession has really upped his station in the world. .jpg)  <points at Yuri> You're late. We took a little side trip. Did a little side questing. You know how it is..jpg) Have you decided to surrender? Or do me and my bodyguards have to kick your butt again? ...Your what, now? I am OK with that title..jpg) .jpg) So is that a no...? It feels like a no. <enters fighting stance> Feels pretty noish. Agreed.Rasputin raises a glowing hand toward Yuri. Yuri's chest begins to glow as well. .jpg) By the omnipotent power of the Lord, I call on the spirit of the Mistletoe! Argh!.jpg) Yuri experiences a few moments of intense heartburn but it quickly fizzles out. .jpg) And your curse is weak rear end too..jpg) Hmph. So the power of Amon has halted the progress of the curse. Your curse isn't worth poo poo, buddy! Let me tell you about the Three Masks. Now there was a curse you could respect! This is some amateur hour curse crap..jpg) Yes. And your shield has been broken too. You've got no chance to win. You amuse me, little ants. Do you really think you can defeat me? Yuri already kicked your butt once. We all saw it! A squash match, no doubt about it! Oh poo poo, son! You were not prepared for Rasputin to bust that Reverse Card out of his deck and slam it on the table. The master of the debate has arrived on the scene. You'd best watch out, Yuri. .jpg) You have conquered Amon, but you have no idea how to use him! ...... ...I clearly do, though. Do you want me to fuse into him again and punch you through another airship? Did you meet Jovis? Just gonna chance the subject, huh? Fine. Yeah. Is he still hiding away in his little hole, living like a rat?.jpg) Hehehe. Mmm. <nods> ...... Well, anyway... He's much happier than you are. You have a lot of fun here sitting alone on an uncomfortable chair with a bunch of worms and a weird oversized heart beating outside? Seems like a grand old time..jpg) Petty dreamers, licking each other's wounds while groveling on their knees? That's "happiness"? What did you say?! I feel a villain monologue coming up. Mhm..jpg) I am the winner. I have done what he could not. Henceforth, the world will be indelibly changed in my image. Hahahaha! Humanity will live in fear and darkness for thousands of years. And when the final human dies, I will still be there, laughing..jpg) Heh hahahaha!! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!.jpg) He's insane. Wow, take it down a notch..jpg) What's he saying? He's writing his own epitaph. Grr..jpg) Good. Now it's time to remove the final obstacle in my way. Time for you to die!!.jpg) OK! Tune in next time for the climactic final battle with Demon Lord Grigori Raspu—  Oh, WHAT THE gently caress?!  Video: Episode 71 Cutscene (You should watch Rasputin yucking it up.)  Idar Flamme Concept Art - Needs more fans.  Idar Flamme Heart Concept Art - I still can't believe they made me do the same boss fight twice in a row.  Idar Flamme Throne Room Concept Art - It ould have been neat to have a big weird brain in the ceiling.
|
|
#
?
Mar 3, 2020 22:57
|
|
|
Holy poo poo.
|
|
#
?
Mar 3, 2020 23:02
|
|
|
Instead of a brain, we got the deadlights above his throne. Disappointing.
|
|
#
?
Mar 3, 2020 23:13
|
|
|
It took time to develop during his previous adventures, but Yuri has finally achieved his final form: telling would-be apocalypse demons to go gently caress themselves in as many words.
|
|
#
?
Mar 3, 2020 23:53
|
|
|
It's on the Evil Overlord List to not turn into a snake- it never helps. Pretty sure that applies to demon worm things also, Rasputin.
|
|
#
?
Mar 3, 2020 23:57
|
|
|
Ra ra Rasputin Lover of the Russian queen There was a cat that really was gone Ra ra Rasputin Russia's greatest love machine It was a shame how he carried on
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2020 02:06
|
|
|
You just know he's been sitting in that room the whole time, naming those worms Nicholai, Veronica and Lenny, and holding conversations with them because there's nobody else around.
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2020 03:44
|
|
|
I remember the mortibody and mortichariot and mortiwheeloffourtunes of Seymour, I wonder what mortibeard will do.
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2020 03:45
|
|
|
If only Yuri and friends could just deal with Rasputin the same way the Legends of Tomorrow did...
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2020 04:10
|
|
|
Rasputin's boss battle form was the single most memorable enemy in this game for me. The animation is suitably grotesque too.
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2020 04:47
|
|
|
So Asmodeus was really Jenova this whole time? All they need to do now is give Tifa's revenge arc against Sephiroth just as much shrift if not more so than Cloud's in the remake, and everyone's favorite silver haired pretty boy a snazzy new organ dungeon to chill out in, so some vapid internet blogger who happens to discover this game for the first time will swear up and down that this game totally ripped off Squeenix.
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2020 04:56
|
|
|
And then there was beard. Episode LXX The Dark Id posted:While there is a bounty of treasure to found most of it is just repeats Episode LXXI The Dark Id posted:Just gonna chance the subject, huh?
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2020 05:29
|
|
|
No, seriously, 
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2020 08:46
|
|
|
Now there is the Shadow Hearts creature design I know and love.
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2020 12:13
|
|
|
CmdrKing posted:It took time to develop during his previous adventures, but Yuri has finally achieved his final form: telling would-be apocalypse demons to go gently caress themselves in as many words. Yuri’s heard way better villain monologues than that half-hearted, “I am so powerful and evil” affair. By this point, he’s about as underwhelmed by this guy as we all are.
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2020 14:03
|
|
|
For such a plain dungeon there are definitely a couple of pretty good lines in the cutscenes.
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2020 14:46
|
|
|
Geostomp posted:Yuri’s heard way better villain monologues than that half-hearted, “I am so powerful and evil” affair. By this point, he’s about as underwhelmed by this guy as we all are. Oh let’s be fair, the speech is average but it’s delivered with gusto. Papenbrook killed it here.
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2020 15:14
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 23, 2024 12:10 |
|
|
Episode LXXII: Asmodeus NEW Music: Hardcore to the Brain (This is actually the primary Disc 2 common boss fight music but Rasputin is giving us an early taste.) .jpg) OK, then. I would have pegged a fight with Demon Lord Rasputin in his human wizard form before jumping straight to the unspeakable abomination transformation phase of the Soul Pact. You know how class act Albert Simon did back in the day. But here we are jumping straight away to facing Asmodeus. Rasputin's glow up is a rare Non-Elemental enemy with 2880 HP. Which... seems kind of low, honestly. A Soul Pact with one of the trifecta of most powerful demons of destruction only gives you a thousand more HP than that jobber Victor and only 500 more health than the titty elemental Veronica? That seems underwhelming. .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) Before we do anything we are spending the first turn slapping on all the buffs and defenses going with getting Arc Barrier, Arc Rage and Arc Gale up and running. Arc Shield isn't a bad idea either but isn't as essential since Yuri will be fusing into Amon and we can only use Crest Magic with the other three characters. Maybe next turn. But really, Arc Barrier is absolutely essential as Asmodeus hits HARD. .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) Asmodeus' first action is to cast Evil Crest which hits the entire party for significant damage and lowers everyone's Special Attack power by 30% for 5 turns. Mind you, the damage numbers shown are with everyone protected by a Barrier spell. Without it, this hits in the 225-250 HP range. Our frontline characters all have not much beyond 300 HP max so... that's a not at all insignificant chunk of health! We need to get that healed immediately because Rasputin WILL kill a character the next turn if they don't have 200+ HP reserves at all times. .jpg) After nerfing everyone's Special Attack power, Asmodeus will also buff his own by 30%. He wants to be the only one with big boy magic power in the room. .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) Asmodeus can also send people on a brief trip to another dimension for 200+ HP of damage. .jpg) He can also just slap the poo poo out of someone for 150-200+ HP of damage as well. This has the troubling side-effect of lowering their SP significantly. I don't think it can outright completely drain sanity to zero. But it will lower it all the way to 1 SP thus that character needs to be sorted out with a Pure Root or the like the next turn or they'll be going Berserk. And that would be less than a choice development for a major boss fight. .jpg) Arc Gale does give us enough breathing room after a couple turns to get all of our necessary healing/SP repairs in and give us a chance to set-up a Combo. Which is what we need to do to get ahead in the resources race against Soul Pact Rasputin. .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) Even with our magic abilities debuffed, we can still make the donuts with a 4-person combo ending with a spot of Combo Magic. Like to the tune of right around a thousand HP of damage. .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) If we can knock that out a couple of times and still gets some hits in during the healing phases, in no time Asmodeus will be Asmodone. Music: Result ~ Victory .jpg) All that build-up Asmodeus Rasputin and you only lasted as many rounds as Godhand Lenny and two less than Night Queen Veronica. Sad. But what isn't sad is our rewards for defeating Rasputin once and for all. .jpg) Rasputin drops a returning accessory from Shadow Hearts 1 if we ever want to go all-in on magic damage output.  Za Warudo Tarot Card either will double Cash, EXP and Soul Energy from a battle or halve it when reversed. The Special Effect grants either 4x rewards or reversed a 75% reduction in payout. A crapshoot as usual but could come in handy if we ever needed to grind. Which, hopefully, we will not. I could have gotten away with zero grinding in the first game if not for elusive elemental Soul Energy deposits and having to drag Koudelka's son up to snuff for a lousy Pit Fight boss rush. .jpg) Everyone but Anastasia gains a Level Up from Rasputin's defeat. She must be cheesed she was put on the bench fighting the guy who has been menacing her family and plotting their murder since she was a toddler. Sorry, kid. Mages kind of suck for this battle. Music: ENDS .jpg)  How could it be...? I can't... believe... it... It was... human will that finally defeated me...?.jpg) I'd say my fists helped too........jpg) Albert was 100 times stronger than you. <grunts and laughs weakly> Albert, eh...? <snort> Tch. I'll even say it. Dehuai was more of a tough match than you too. I don't know... who that... is... Another sorcerer like you and Albert. Hmph. Albert....jpg) The Mistletoe was supposed to be used to defeat him... ? Do you know what the true horror of the Mistletoe is? <shakes head> Well, other than it grows a creepy tree with another me growing out of it in the graveyard in my soul. ...What? Ergh. Nevermind. I shouldn't interrupt. You're leaking... green slime. The Mistletoe doesn't simply steal away a person's life. It kills the soul by stealing a person's thoughts, will and memory....jpg) Wha...? Kills the soul? Hee hee hee. Just as Nicolai said... Your most powerful weapon is your human willpower... Being able to fuse souls with demons and transform is what I would have gone with, but sure. But with each moment that passes, your soul slowly fades away....jpg) ...... <gasp> Still living, you will become a hollow person... Your personality will be stolen away and you will live on as an empty shell. You will become bland as a married middle-aged salaryman. You will only talk about the weather, baseball games and mowing your lawn. ...... You will put ketchup on all meals and find anything more potent than a pinch of pepper to be too spicy for your palate. You will never throw another punch and shy away from conflict, "not wanting to get involved." ...No. Your penis... will cease function. No. For a man such as you, it will be a fate worse than death.Karin shoves Yuri out of the way and yells at Rasputin. .jpg) How do we stop the curse?! ...You can't. Liar!! It's true... That's why it was our final weapon against Albert Simon... I have been many things but a liar is not one of them. I am not starting now... bleeding out and unable... to feel my legs....jpg) I... I won't change... There is nothing you can do... Your will to resist will soon be gone... Maybe not today, or this week or even this month. But soon... Perhaps by the end of second adventure in a far off land. ...... I'll tell you one more thing before I die... What? Nicolai is headed to the Vatican. The Vatican?!Music: The Real Intentions .jpg) To Apoina Tower... I thought you said The Vatican? It's a place in The Vatican. Don't worry... I might know where it is... He plans to release the malice locked in the tower....jpg) What's that, now?! There is a great reserve of evil intent locked behind a gate in The Vatican. ...Why? That is a question for the Catholics... Not I... Why are you telling us this? Because Nicolai can... bite me... That's fair. Go on. Go and finish Nicolai. Then you'll see how pointless your struggle really is... .......jpg) .jpg) BARF! <dies spurting out Ecto Cooler>.jpg) It turns out Rasputin, much like a Dracula, was a load-bearing boss and his death has resulted in Idar Flamme coming apart at the seams. Or it took like twenty minutes to notice its heart stopped beating and it's a happy coincidence. Either way, it's time to go! .jpg) Eh? Huh? Not yet. It's not over.Music: ENDS .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) Hey... was Idar Flamme still floating over the middle of Petrograd? Because, umm... That seems like kind of a problem to have a massive castle just drop all over the city. .jpg) Oh well! Not our problem. We did our best. I am sure only a few blocks of Petrograd were crushed in the rubble. After Shanghai had a dark god set off a magic nuke in the Disc 1 finale equivalent of Shadow Hearts 1, I'll call this a win. Though, it's a real missed opportunity to not have the Magimel Brothers' truck ramping out the side of this thing as the Bacon Jet flies away from the crumbling temple. .jpg) In any event, on to the Disc 1 endgame back at the start of the game! The Vatican -- the only place with more evil locked under it than Wales, apparently. Meanwhile, in Apoina Tower... Music: The Real Intentions .jpg) .jpg)  So he's won...? <smirks>Nicolai walks to the nearby window. .jpg) Very well, Godslayer! Come here! I'm waiting for you!.jpg) There is one more face that needs to be punched before we can wrap up the first half of this adventure. But before we start working our way toward bodying Nicholas Conrad, we have one final scene of this chapter back in The Graveyard. Music: Holy Mistletoe ~ Graveyard .jpg)  ...... What am I, invisible? Crud, I'm not actually invisible, right? This place is weird like that sometimes....jpg) Yeah. Not a big fan either. Rasputin said it's going to kill my soul by stealing my memory. I guess nobody can help you in your fight against this curse... I guess not. I thought about beating the crap out of this tree but... I don't know... Seems like a waste of time..jpg) Not really... Yuri, I live inside your soul now. Come on. Yeah, I'm scared. I wouldn't blame you if you were scared. It's so... horrible... It's just a stupid tool for controlling people. But it's not going to work. I'm not letting this drat curse win! I already let one stupid rear end curse win and that's one too many! No more! Yuri....jpg) I don't know how to break the curse. I tried and tried, but I couldn't find a way. Rasputin said there wasn't any way to break it. But is he telling the truth? I wonder. I KIND of have the feeling he wasn't and that's a little worrying... I won't give up, then. I'll keep looking! Don't you give up either, okay, Yuri? <nods> I won't..jpg) And that concludes our time with the floating temple Idar Flamme and the end of the Mad Monk Grigori Rasputin. Tune in next time as we begin the Disc 1 loose ends wrap-up before tackling the apparent font of Malice that is Apoina Tower, The Vatican as Disc 1 of Shadow Hearts: Covenant draws to a close.  No new characters to speak of this chapter but we do have a whole load of new monster entries from the penultimate Disc 1 dungeon. Monsters: .jpg) It will poo poo on your hobbies as a stupid waste of time without remorse. .jpg) No, dawg. You should totally have four hotdogs at 3:00 AM! It'll taste great! .jpg) Not if I turn them into delicious Soul Energy first. .jpg) Welp, eviction notice has been sent. Guess I'll just die now. .jpg) But it mostly just attacks forward. What with the claws facing forward and minimal dexterity. .jpg) Yep. That's a nightmare creature right then. .jpg) Alchemists are just behind wizards with no sense of right or wrong. Let me tell you, NEVER let them have both a daughter and a dog under the same roof! .jpg) More like acts like a waste of my goddamn time!  .jpg) I really feel like we should have gotten some Parasite Eve rear end transformation for Rasputin into this crazy-rear end form.  Video: Episode 72 Highlight Reel (Freaky boss fight and major character death. You should watch this!)  Asmodeus Concept Art - Could frankly use a haircut.
|
|
#
?
Mar 5, 2020 23:45
|
|